5 Best French Romance Movies

Enjoy a good laugh, a good cry and indulge your inner foreign film snob with our list of the five best French romance movies. Like most other things French the five best French romance movies aren’t just about hearts flowers and kisses. They explore some of the deeper experiences that create the ties that bind. The five best French romance movies take a deeper look at the motivations behind our relationships, and they do it with a style and joie de vivre that can only be done by the French.

“Cyrano de Bergerac” (1950). This movie has been remade over a dozen times since it’s original release in 1950. Cyrano is in love with Roxanne, but she won’t give him the time of day. Roxanne is in love with Cyrano’s best friend, the dashing, but awkward Christian. Together they woo their lady love using Cyrano’s words and Christian’s good looks. The first entry on our list of the 5 best French romance movies is as funny and charming as it is hopelessly romantic.

“La Belle et la bete” aka “Beauty and the Beast” (1946). If you really want to explore the legend of “Beauty and the Beast” you should skip the Disney adaptations and check out Jean Cocteau’s original film adaptation. This one of the five best French romance movies is only a fairy tale on the surface. Pull back the castles and glitz and you have a story of obsession, anger and truly falling in love with a person’s inner beauty.

“Une Liaison Pornographique” aka “An Affair of Love” (1999). Even though it was filmed before the term “hook-up culture” was on the lips of parents and conservatives trying to scare kids away from sex, there was this one of the five best French romance movies. It’s an interesting look at the way sex, even without love can evoke powerful emotions and finding love when you’re not looking for it.

“L’ Historie d’ Adele H” aka “The Story of Adele H” ( 1975). While it definitely ranks among the five best French romance movies, it’s not the kind of movie you watch when you’re looking for a happy ending. Based on the diaries of Adele Hugo, the youngest daughter of writer Victor Hugo, it recounts her obsessive love for a British Officer. “Fatal Attraction” have nothing on this French romance tragedy.

“Le Ami de mon Amie” aka “Boyfriends and Girlfriends” (1987). The last entry in our list of the five best French romance movies explores the roles that passion and companionship play in our relationships. Looking for a change two friends decide to swap boyfriends for awhile. One is looking for passion and the other is looking for the ultimate companion, and like most mate swapping experiments, things get complicated quickly.